Changing Bellatrix
by gredandforgerock
Summary: Written for whitedorumon who doesn't want anything canon. So AU no canon pairings, major out of character behavior for at least one cough*Bellatrix*cough character. No romance. No scar.
1. Chapter 1

"Bellatrix come." Voldemort instructed.

"Yes my Lord." she responded eagerly.

She followed him into the night and they disappeared with a pop. They reappeared outside a small village and quietly began to walk. Bella was extremely curious about what was going on but she knew better than to question the Dark Lord about it. He would tell her when he was ready. They stopped by an empty lot and waited for a moment. A rustle in the brush behind her made Bella turn around with her wand drawn. A rat scurried out of the brush and stood up to become a man.

"Tell us your sssecret." Voldemort demanded.

"James and Lily Potter live at 1624 Blueberry road, Godrick's Hollow." Peter shakily gave the information.

Bella turned and saw the house come into view. Grinning madly she followed the Dark Lord into the house. The fight was nonexistent and James Potter fell to the floor dead. They heard the mudblood pound up the stairs and they chuckled knowing she was trapping herself. Bella waited outside while Voldemort blasted his way into the room. The woman was begging for mercy and she was sure her Lord would show none. However Bella was surprised when he told the woman to step aside all he wanted was the baby. Her refusal to move brought her a swift death and the Dark Lord stepped out of the room.

"Bring the brat." he instructed, "He will be useful in my ritual chamber."

"Yes my Lord." Bella scrambled into the room and picked up the baby. Her senses were assaulted by the smell of him. He smelled just like her own baby. But her baby was gone. Her Lord had demanded her presence and Rodolphus was supposed to be with the baby while she was gone. But the idiot and his brother had gotten drunk and her precious baby had died. Shaking the thoughts out of her head she stepped out of the house and made her way to the ritual chamber as she had been told.

"Put him here." Voldemort indicated a table in the middle of the room. Complex runes were written on the floor in an even more complex pattern and candles flickered at the sides put at specific intervals. He moved around the room waving his wand in and chanting.

Bella laid the baby on the table and stepped away. Voldemort turned his wand and made several sweeping gestures at the baby and then at himself. After nearly an hour of wand movements and chanting the child began to glow and a bright golden light flew out and struck Voldemort who let out a piercing scream then collapsed. Bella was confused, she wasn't sure if she should attend to the man or do something else so she waited. The baby was still on the table but he was laughing and gurgling as babies do. On the ground Voldemort stirred. Sitting up he pulled his wand and tried to send the killing curse at the baby but nothing happened.

"Get that brat out of my sight and kill It." he ordered, "Make it hurt."

"Yes my Lord." Bella scooped the baby up and took it away. She walked swiftly to another room and began to think, "Surely this will convince him to mark me. He can't put it off any longer I am too good at this."

She sat the baby on the table, pulled her silver knife and her wand. Ready to cast the first curse she looked into the face of the baby and stopped. She was frozen in place. The baby was grinning and laughing and making all the baby sounds. He was so cute that she was stuck; she couldn't kill him he was just like her own baby. The little boy stood up and toddled across the table to her with his arms out. She dropped the knife and grabbed him up hugging and snuggling with him just as she had with her own baby. Without thinking too closely about it she turned and left the room. She left the house and then with a quick turn she was gone. It took Voldemort months to recover from his near death enough to ask Bella about the baby. He wanted to make sure it was dead. No one could find the woman in question, not even her husband.

_***** Nearly eight years later *****_

"Sit still." Bella admonished, "Your hair is going to look even worse than normal if you don't sit still."

"It always looks terrible." Harry complained, "No matter how you have it cut. My hair has a mind of its own."

"No doubt about that. But your squirming is going to make it lopsided and even messier." she shook her head.

"Sorry Aunty." he tried to sit still he really did.

The woman cutting his hair tried to hold in a chuckle, "You know the cut you're asking for goes against the natural spike in his hair. If we change the cut it will work with it."

"Whatever it takes to calm that hair down." Bella answered, "I would like it if it was easy to duplicate the style after its been washed."

"This will make his mop easy." she answered as she cut his hair, "It naturally wants to stand up so this will allow it to do so with just a little hair gel."

"But that's girl stuff." Harry shuddered, "I don't want to put girl stuff in my hair."

"Lots of boys us this stuff." she chuckled, "Did you see the teenage boy that was in my chair just before you?" Harry nodded, "He uses gel all the time. There all done."

"Finally." Bella muttered and went to pay the woman and even give her a tip. She didn't normally do that but the woman was the first to make Harry's hair look like something other than a wreck. They left the store and stepped out into the hot July sun. This was the kind of day that made her appreciate muggle clothes. She could wear shorts and a tee shirt instead of the stifling hot robes, "The work for the day is out of the way. The rest of the day will be fun. Happy seventh birthday. What are we going to do for fun?"

"I want to go to that place we went to for Mark's birthday." Harry grinned, "Pizza and games."

"Alright then. Your wish is my command." they boy laughed at her dramatic bow. The two hailed a cab and jumped in. Harry tried to sit still as his aunt gave the address and sat back.

Harry thought his aunt Bella was the best person in the world. He knew she hadn't always been because she told him so. Last year for his birthday wish he had wanted to know why. Why he lived with his aunt? Why had his parents died? Why did the bad wizard want to kill him? And most of all why couldn't they stay in one place very long? She had answered all his questions as best she could. He understood that a dark wizard wanted him dead because of a prophecy. He understood his parents had died trying to protect him. He understood that his "Aunt" had a change of heart and whisked him away to safety. And he understood why they moved every three months and used different identities. Up until last year he was always Harry. He'd been Harry White, Harry Smith, Harry Green, and Harry Turner. Now that he was older and understood he didn't always going by Harry. He was currently using the name Mike Carter. Likewise his aunt rarely used the name Bella and she never used the name Bellatrix. Currently she was using the name Mary.

Mary and Mike Carter enjoyed the rest of their day. Just like with names Harry never celebrated his birthday on the same day. This year is was actually only three weeks until his real birthday. They normally shared a small cake on his birthday but they were never anywhere really fun. Usually they spent the two weeks around his birthday hiding, this year it would be even more. There was always an article in the wizard paper on his birthday with the picture of him and his parents. Harry was beginning to look very much like his father and they didn't want anyone nearby knowing who he was. Luckily he didn't have any distinguishing marks of any kind, just his father's messy hair and his mother's green eyes. Bella wanted to be sure and be gone from any area well before the paper came out and they wouldn't show up anywhere else until the school was ready to start.

The day after his 'birthday fun' they spent packing up all their belongings and moving. Once they had reached their destination they unpacked and Bella made them dinner. The night was quiet and the next morning she asked, "What do you want to do first?"

"Practice." Harry grinned. He loved to practice his magic. It always felt like a warm blanket wrapped around you on a cold night. He liked the colors too.

Bella had been training him from the moment he could talk. Back then it had only been memorizing words. She had always been told it was easier for younger children to learn other languages. That's the excuse her parents had used for training her and her sisters when they were young. As he grew she added wand movements and a description of the outcome of the spell. It had only been in the last year that she had actually let him start performing some of them and he was good at it.

"Alright but theory first." Harry groaned but sat up straight none the less or she would never continue, "Ok, levitation?"

"Swish and flick with the incantation Wingardrium Leviosa." Harry answered, "This will cause the object you point at to float in the air. It can then easily be pushed into a different place or you can lift it higher like putting something on a high shelf."

"Yes correct. Now how about…" Bella continued naming every first, second and third year spell. All of which he knew the wand movement, the incantation, what happened and could give instances where it would be useful. She also knew he could do all of them and she let him practice for a while, "Well done now you are ready to start year four spells."

"Yes." the boy cheered.

Bella laughed at his enthusiasm, "First though I have a surprise for you that I don't want to wait until your real birthday to give you."

"What is it?" Harry asked bouncing on the balls of his feet. Bella handed him the newspaper. The headlines on the third page were in bold letters. The one she meant for him was read aloud, Sirius Black's trial starts tomorrow. The paper was dated for the previous day.

The short article was from a reputable French wizarding news paper and read:

_England has finally agreed to give Sirius Black the trial he should have gotten eight years ago. He was put into prison based on the rumor that he was the secret keeper for James and Lily Potter, parents of the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter. "England has always been a bit backward on things." one high seated man in the French Ministry claimed, "They still use dementors to guard their prison. Can you imagine anything so terrible?" You may ask why France is concerned with an English prisoner well we have the answer. Someone has been sending anonymous letters to the English ministry claiming Sirius Black is innocent. The letters gave testimony that Peter Pettigrew was the true secret keeper. For five years the English Ministry has ignored these continuous letters. _

_The writer of the letters altered their course and began contacting several member countries of the ICW including France. The letters sent over the last three years were denounced as unimportant, but they kept coming. The French Ministry got so tired of all the letters that they took the matter up with the ICW. Albus Dumbledore of England was at the meetings and was confronted with thousands of letters. He claimed that he had no knowledge of the letters and would definitely investigate the matter. The letters to the ICW nations never stopped. So it is at the bequest of our Minister that we print this so that the person or persons will see that they can stop writing letters now. We will also bring you any information that is released from the trial._

"I knew you could do it." Harry yelled and hugged his aunt, "Now he'll be free and they can start searching for the rat. Do you think he'll visit us?"

"Oh Harry." Bella stroked his head, "We can't let anyone know where we are. You know that."

"But he won't tell will he?" he asked.

"I don't think so but that's not the problem." she hugged him, "If we let ourselves be too visible the bad man will find you before you're ready."

"Aunty Bella, what's going to happen when I go to school?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I'll send you to England for school. Hogwarts is where I learned." she smiled.

"But, I won't see you anymore." he continued, "Where will they send me for the holidays?"

"That why we're working to free Sirius." she stated, "He'll be your legal guardian when he's free. They'll send you to live with him. Remember he's my cousin."

"But I want you to be there." he was trying not to cry. He was nine after all and nine year olds didn't cry."Won't Sirius let you live there?"

"If I return to England I'll go to Azkaban." she reminded him.

"They have dementors guarding the prison." Harry frowned, "It said so in the paper. I don't want you to go there. But I don't like the idea of never seeing you again. How can we get around it?"

"We'll find a way." she said, but she wasn't convinced herself.

That night neither of the two fugitives slept well. However Sirius Black did in his first night in eight years not spent in Azkaban. His night was great but the news he received the following morning was not as pleasant.

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Sirius yelled at Albus Dumbledore.

"He was kidnapped before we got there." Albus stated.

"But Hagrid was there." Sirius argued, "He was going in to get Harry. He said you sent him."

"I did." Albus confirmed, "But Harry wasn't there and you had already left to go after Peter. We had hoped you had taken him and that you would ransom him."

"Do you know who took him?" Sirius demanded.

"Voldemort did."

"So he's dead then." Sirius said in a low voice, "Why didn't you just leave me in Azkaban, it would be preferable to this."

"He's not dead." Remus clarified, "Voldemort lost him."

"What?" Sirius was stunned.

"Something happened to injure Voldemort in his ritual chamber. From what we've been able to gather he was hurt by Harry and then Bellatrix spirited him away." Remus stated, "We've not seen any sign of the two of them since and neither have the death eaters. She's wanted by everyone."

"Why is she hiding from the death eaters?" Sirius was confused.

"Because Harry's alive and she was supposed to kill him." Albus replied, "On James and Lily's request I had made a few trinkets charmed to follow Harry's magical signature. The one designed to measure his power broke the night he was kidnapped. The other two tell me he is alive and happy."

"Why did the one meant to measure power break?" Sirius asked.

"We don't know." Albus sighed, "Several things could have happened. The spell Voldemort used on him could have any number of consequences it would depend on what he did. One of those consequences could have been to drain Harry of all magic which would have broken it. Another idea stemmed from gossip among death eaters. No one had seen Voldemort actually perform magic for more than two years after the accident. He can do so now but they've not seen anything extraordinary. It could be that when he tried to do whatever he tried to do it backfired and gave Harry all his magic. That much magical transfer could also be the reason the item broke."

"So you're saying Harry is either a squib or ultra powerful and either way Bellatrix is taking care of him and making him happy?" Sirius stated, "It's hard to believe either way truly."

"Well she could have had a change of heart." Albus said, "It has been known to happen. Severus said she had a baby die due to Rodolphus' lack of intelligence. He thinks she took him to raise him as her own. Teaching him dark arts and preparing to bring him back and give him to Voldemort as a new death eater."

"So we are in really deep trouble." Sirius finished.

"Not necessarily." Albus said, "If she had a change of heart he may be the same sweet boy he would have grown up to be. We need to find her and see just what is going on."

"How are we to do that?" Remus was the one to ask this time.

"I have several people out looking." Albus stated, "I think we may be close. When we find her you have a talent that just might help."

"I do?" he asked.

"I understand you are a dog animagus." Albus smiled, "What nine year old boy doesn't want a dog?"

"Alright." Sirius agreed, "You find them and I'll find out everything I can about them."

"I'll just send the two of them a quick message." Albus smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

_***** Searching for Harry*****_

Moody was not a happy camper. He stomped around the room throwing things for several minutes before he finally asked the question, "How much did we miss them by this time?"

"Two days." Tonks answered.

"Merlin's pants." Moody swore angrily, "That's the closest we've gotten yet. Any idea why?"

"His birthday is in less than two weeks." Tonks said, "In the past they've always disappeared just a few days before it. Then they generally show up again someplace new within a week or so later. I showed neighbors a picture of James and Lily and they immediately said that James had to be Harry's father because he looked so much like him."

"They're leaving more time between the media coverage on his birthday and him being in an area." Moody saw her point, "Albus isn't going to like this."

"We're doing our best." Tonks put her hand on his shoulder, "We can't outguess them all the time."

"You have the list of schools?" Moody demanded.

"It's here." Tonks replied, "All schools he's ever been to are marked. But these are only list of magic primary schools. He's been to several muggle schools and to hide him better I suggest that is where they'll try to stay from now on. It's daunting because Canada has so many schools."

"They may even move into the United States." Moody said, "I don't know how we're going to find them now."

"You always say that." Tonks grinned, "Yet you always at least get us close."

"I better report." Moody said.

Before he could move Fawkes flashed into the room. In his talons was a paper and in his beak was a letter. Moody took both and read the letter first. After reading it he handed it to Tonks and picked up the paper. She read the paper when he was finished a huge smile graced her face.

"I'm so glad he didn't do it." she said grinning madly, "I bet you feel better knowing the man you trained wasn't a murderer after all." Moody's only response was a growl. She didn't understand the meaning of it but she did realize he didn't want to talk about it. She decided a slight change of topic was in order, "So he's going to join us and try to work his way in as a pet instead of me trying to work my way in as a friend."

"It's a good plan." Moody grumbled, "People are much freer around pets than friends." He sat down at the table and wrote out a reply to Albus giving him their current location and how much longer he thought they would be there. He gave the message to the Phoenix who flashed away.

"Do you think there is any way she hasn't been raising him to be dark?" Tonks asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to.

Sirius and Remus joined the duo a few weeks later. They arrived to find the two sitting at the kitchen table going over lists of some sort. Tonks informed them it was a list and description of any new student at any magical primary school. The two new members of the team picked up copies and looked them over.

"I don't see anyone of Harry's description." Sirius said after a few moments.

"Some families just like to move around to new schools so their kids can meet more magicals. Those names we can mark off." Tonks said, "Like Jeremy Miller. This is his third school in two years. We're locating the new names on the list, she could be transfiguring him so we don't pay any attention to the description until later. We are also marking anyone with both parents so they're at the bottom of the list to search. Bellatrix has never signed him up for school with a father or uncle's name attached to it. Most of the time she signs herself up as his aunt but twice it's been as his mother."

"So you'd probably search out this kid named Mark Nelson." Remus stated trying to understand their logic, "He's registered by his aunt and he has dark hair."

"We would but Mark is another one who moves a lot." Tonks said, "He gets moved because he keeps getting kicked out of schools. That is one bad kid. Likes to hex people."

"And you're sure he's not Harry in disguise?" Sirius asked.

"Positive." Moody interrupted, "We were able to do a blood test on him."

"We've actually been able to rescue three kids with this method." Tonks said, "When we can't prove the kid isn't Harry we call in the locals to test them. We're not allowed to do it ourselves."

"Wow that's impressive." Remus blinked at the pink haired girl, "So how are you able to check on them without alerting them to your presence?"

"We work with the schools." Tonks stated, "I'm allowed to get a job at which ever school we think he may be at."

"Sorry but isn't your hair a give away?" Remus asked.

"Nope." she said as she turned her hair black.

"She's a metamorph." Sirius snickered at his shocked friend, "I told you my cousin was."

"I didn't realize you meant this cousin." pointed out an embarrassed Remus.

"Three times we've managed to get close." Tonks interrupted their conversation about her, "I'm almost positive I saw him one of those times but I wasn't one hundred percent sure. They disappeared shortly after."

"Did they know you were there?" Sirius asked.

"No come to find out they'd been there for about three months." she frowned, "They move at least every three months sometimes less."

"How many names are we going to have to search out?" Remus gained their attention.

"Around two hundred." she guessed, "There are seventy five magical primary schools in Canada. So far they've not ventured out into any other country that we can find. There are several times he doesn't show up in any school but we're assuming that they went muggle those times. The schools will send us another list of any new kids that register late."

"Are all of these kids just in Harry's year?" Remus asked.

"No." Tonks replied, "These are from all the years but we check out two years younger to two years older in case they're messing with his age."

"How is he in school?" Sirius asked.

"Records show a well behaved but friendly boy." Tonks shrugged, "So either he's keeping a low profile or he's just a good kid."

"I guess that's my job to find out now." Sirius sighed.

A week later Tonks and Padfoot headed out to start checking the kids on the list. The first kid was quick. Sam Dearly turned out to be a girl. Her name was Samantha but she refused to answer to it so her aunt always filled out the papers with her shortened name. They went through the list and marked down seventeen for further investigation. The initial search took almost a month. By that time the school year had started and they had another list of new students however this list was much shorter. It was from this second list that Sirius felt he had located a promising subject. It was promising enough that he approached the boy as a dog one afternoon after school. The boy immediately lured the dog home and was able to get his mother to let him keep the dog. After two days in the house Sirius realized the boy wasn't Harry and left.

"Don't feel bad." Tonks soothed a pouting Sirius, "It's not as easy as it looks. Besides I have another subject for you to look at."

Moody handed him a photo, "He's got Lily's eye shape, brown hair and blue eyes. Quiet kid, didn't try to make any friends and he's been there almost a week. This one's at a school Harry has not been to before."

Padfoot tried the same approach as last time. But the boy didn't try to lure him home. He pet him in the playground at the school until a woman came and got him. Following them he watched as they entered a house around fifteen blocks from the school. The boy didn't seem upset that his mother wouldn't let him walk home alone like the other boys his age did. When it got dark Padfoot snuck into the back yard and watched through the windows. The two had a quiet dinner and the boy did his homework. The night was very quiet. He watched them for three days with nothing changing and was about to give up when the first really interesting thing happened. It was a Friday night and the boy was much more excited than he usually was. He still hadn't made any friends at school so Sirius didn't think he was having a friend over so he wondered at the excitement. After a few moments Sirius notice a flare from the fireplace and a man entered the room.

"Dad!" the boy called excitedly.

"Go get your bag." the man smiled.

"Ok." the boy ran off.

"Mark be careful with him please." the woman begged, "I don't want him to come back all bruised again."

"He's a boy Meredith." the man shook his head, "Boys like to play rough."

"But quidditch is just too rough." she claimed.

"I played at that age and survived." he said, "I want him to grow up to be a great quidditch player."

"Just like you." she sighed.

"He wants it too." the man claimed.

"Just make sure he knows that when he gets married he shouldn't let the fame go to his head and cheat on his wife." she grimaced.

"How many times do I have to apologize?" he frowned, "I made a mistake and I'm paying the consequences by only seeing my son every other weekend."

Sirius sighed and left the yard. No way was this kid Harry. He returned to the house they used and reported, "Not him. Just a kid from a split family. He's got some famous quidditch player for a dad."

"Good job." Moody said, "Now this next one Remus scoped out a little while you've been gone."

The search continued for months. Sirius was tired of getting his hopes up and having them dashed. But just like the others he pressed on. Each time a new child started at a school they'd look over his profile and either add him to the list to investigate or check him off as one already known. Near Christmas the name Jeremy Miller popped up on the list again.

"This is odd." Tonks said reading the name, "He doesn't usually start a new school until the term is over."

"Maybe there are two kids with that name." Sirius threw out off handedly.

"I've not seen it before." Tonks said, "I'm going to check with Crestridge to see if our normal Jeremy is still there."

Remus picked up the list and compared it to the other, "I don't think it's the same kid. Different colored eyes. This kid has green eyes. Your Jeremy has brown eyes."

"Another reason to check just to be sure." Tonks agreed and popped away.

"I'm going to scope it out." Sirius said, "I'll be back soon."

Tonks returned a few minutes later, "Our Jeremy is still at Crestridge. Where's Sirius?"

"At the new school scoping it out." Remus said, "He should be back soon."

Sirius was back in three days time and he was grinning from ear to ear, "It's him I'm sure of it."

"What happened?" Moody asked.

"I saw him playing on the playground with the other kids during school and he has James' laugh." Sirius said, "So I followed them home. But Bella has a car and it took me three days to follow them all the way. They live probably twenty miles from the school in a small house protected by several really good charms. They can do magic without anyone knowing. But no anti-animagus wards."

"I don't know of any Death Eaters that have an animagus form." Tonks said.

"It's beneath them." Remus stated, "Severus was telling me that since Voldemort preaches that muggles are animals none of them are willing to ask if being an animagus is ok. Peter was never looked upon as anything more than a useful rat. Voldemort only kept him as an informant he wasn't a full-fledged death eater."

"So she's more worried about them than us?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Sounds like it but don't get your hopes up." Moody said, "It's your job to watch for indications of dark arts."

"I know." Sirius said, "I'm heading back."

"Take Tonks and Remus with you so they know where you are." Moody instructed, "You two map out the area see if you can get good places to watch the house and school. Watch out for dark activity from any source. If we've been able to find them the bad guys might have found them too."

The three nodded and popped away. Once they landed Sirius changed into a dog and Tonks changed his fur to a light brown then Tonks and Remus walked their dog around town. To keep up appearances they strolled arm in arm like a couple in love might do. First they checked out the area around the school and found several suitable places for Tonks to sit and watch the school without looking like she was. Then they apparated away to a spot about a mile from the house Sirius was sure Harry was in. They passed no houses at all as they walked down the road to their destination. They disillusioned themselves as they got close. They walked a wide birth around the house and Remus found a spot where he could see the house without being seen. They moved closer to the house and froze as they felt themselves move through a ward. When nothing happened they continued on with more caution too scared to use any additional magic. As they neared the house they had to stop at the edge of the woods because the back door flew open and a young boy ran out.

"You can't catch me." he yelled.

"No I can't." She agreed but if you don't come back we won't start the quiz." The woman sat on a chair she conjured.

The boy ran around the edge of the yard and back to the woman. They watched as she quizzed the boy on magic. She either gave the name, description or wand movement of a spell and he'd tell her the rest and they were working of fourth year spells. The three stood in shock and watched until she handed him a wand. All three pulled farther back into the woods and watched as she threw several hexes at him and they watched him deflect them all. Then they had a small mock duel in the back yard. Not one dark spell was ever mentioned in the quiz or in the duel.

The next day was a Saturday. Sirius had a good idea for getting into the house. He changed into a dog and had Remus cut his paw with a piece of glass, leaving it in the wound. He limped into the back yard just as they were coming out to play. He froze when he saw them and acted like he was very wary of people. Bella approached him carefully and kept Harry near the door. She checked him over and found the wound on the foot and no collar.

"Harry go get a bowl of water." she called and the boy ran into the house. While he was gone she jerked the glass out of the dog's foot and healed it. Sirius winced when she pulled the glass out and whined just a bit. Bella patted him on the head and said "Good dog."

"Did he bite you when you pulled the glass out?" Harry asked as he arrived with the bowl. At Bella's questioning look he elaborated, "You always send me in after something useless when you're doing something where you might get hurt."

"Smarty pants." she grimaced, "No he did not."

"Good, can we keep him?" Harry asked as he scratched the dog behind the ears.

"For today at least." she said, "I want to make sure that paw isn't infected."

"Can he stay in my room tonight?" Harry's face held a hopeful grin.

"No." she patted Harry on the head, "He can come in for dinner but it's back outside after that. I hate houses full of pets."

"It won't be a house full of pets if there's only one." Harry called as he ran towards the door, "Come on Blacky I'll show you my room."

Bella stood and followed Harry to the door and the dog limped along behind. She held open the door as he jumped in. Harry called to him again and Sirius followed the sound of his voice. His room was nice Sirius thought. There were a few pictures of Harry at different ages and most of them had other kids in them. Sirius also noticed a few pictures with just Harry and Bella. He sat on the floor next to Harry and listened to him talk.

"Don't worry Aunt Bella will let you stay for a while at least." he scratched the dogs ears, "Just don't make any messes in the house or you'll be gone. Well this is my newest room. It's nice. Much better than that apartment we were in last summer. You could hear everything the neighbors said or did. We couldn't use magic because it was a muggle neighborhood. Aunty says it's safer for us to be muggles but living without magic is hard. My last school was a muggle school, I was so glad to get back to a magical primary school. I can even put up with the quills and ink in order to have magic. I live with my Aunty because I'm an orphan. Do you want to see pictures of my parents?" Harry pulled a book off the shelf and opened it, "This is my parents wedding picture. See that's them in the middle with my Dad's friends on either side. They move because their wizard pictures. Usually there's another guy in there but he's a rat and disappears frequently, which makes me happy."

Sirius saw his younger self and Remus surrounding James and Lily at their wedding. Harry was right that Peter was in the picture when it was taken. Harry kept turning pages and telling him about each photo. Sirius almost cried when he show him a picture of himself as a baby.

"I wish that dark wizard wouldn't have heard the prophecy. I wish he hadn't come after my parents. But at least Aunty Bella took care of me. She used to be bad but she said I changed her. She says she's shocked at what she's become but not upset shocked it's a good shock. She saved my life." Harry smiled, "See here's my second birthday party. Mum and Dad were already dead by now."

Sirius saw his cousin holding a little wiggling boy and helping him blow out candles. Both looked happy. He couldn't believe this was the same cousin that attacked him back in school. Harry was still turning pages and telling him about his life. His first day of school, every birthday and sad pictures of friends left behind when he moved.

"This is the best part." Harry turned the page and Sirius saw a newspaper clipping, "Aunty has been working on this for years."

Sirius was shocked when he saw it was a headline announcing that he was finally getting a trial. Harry paused for a long time on this page before he started telling the dog about it.

"Aunty knew Sirius was innocent. She started a letter campaign to get him free. So when I go to school at Hogwarts I'll be able to go live with him." his smile faltered a bit, "I can't live with Aunt Bella because she can't return to England. I don't want the dementors or death eaters to get her."

The next page held another article exclaiming Sirius' innocence. After that was an interview he gave about looking for Harry and believing he was still alive.

"He'll be a good Godfather." Harry said flipping to the next, "Aunt Bella said so. That is my school picture from this year the end."

"Harry dinner." Bella called.

"Coming." Harry stood and turned to the dog, "Come on. You can have dinner too."


	3. Chapter 3

That night Bella put Blacky outside with a bowl of water and some leftover stew she had fixed. He cleaned both bowls before trotting off into the woods. He quickly found Remus and transformed back to human. It was all he could do to tell Remus about the photo album without breaking down.

"They're good Moony I know they are." Sirius said, "No darkness about them at all. But tell Mad-eye I'm still keeping an eye out for it."

"Ok." Remus agreed and Padfoot returned to his spot by the back door.

On their third evening watching the house Tonks popped to Remus' side, "Death Eaters in town. Both Lestranges and Malfoy."

"Sending in the big guns." Remus commented, "We'll need to alert Sirius and get them all out."

"Tell me something I don't know." Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Fine so how do we do it?" Remus grumbled.

"Patronus." Tonks grinned and flicked her wand. A few moments later they heard a scream from the house and they grinned at each other and started towards the back door.

Inside Padfoot was lying on the floor by the fireplace while Harry and Bella were on the couch beside him. When a silver wolf resolved itself in the middle of the room Bella screamed and they both pulled their wands.

"Idiots one, two and three arrived in the village and are heading your way." Tonks voice said, "We're coming in the back door."

Sirius stood up from being a dog and turned to his cousin, "That means Lucius, your husband and his brother are on their way here. Pack up we need to get you out."

"Sirius?" Bella asked as Harry scrambled off the couch and began to wave his wand.

First a trunk appeared at his feet and then a wavering light appeared over it. Soon things were flying from all over the house and dropping through the light. They shrunk as they passed through the light and all of their belongings settled into the trunk and the lid slammed shut.

"What now?" Harry asked.

"WAIT." Bella came to life, "Why should we trust you?"

"If I'd wanted to kill you I would have done it on the first night." Sirius pointed out, "I was only finding out what you were teaching Harry. We aren't headed to England we're going to a house in Toronto that we've been using as a base. This will get you out of range of the death eaters unless you want to stay and fight the three of them yourself."

"Aunty you said Sirius was trustworthy." Harry pointed out, "Let's go."

"Fine." she gave in.

"Great, back door everyone, I've got the trunk." Sirius levitated the trunk and moved it out the back door where they met with Remus and Tonks coming out of the woods. Pointing his wand at the two he waited.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Remus muttered.

"Mischief managed." Tonks added grinning.

"Excellent, I've got the emergency portkey. Everyone grab on." Sirius pulled out a plate.

"I hate portkeys." Harry grumbled, "I never land on my feet."

"Your dad never could either." Sirius grinned just before the portkey whisked them away.

Bella had seen the three death eaters come around the corner near the drive as they disappeared. She didn't think they could see into the back yard.

"What's going on?" the rough voice of Madeye Moody growled as they landed in the living room of the house.

"Death eaters found them." Tonks stated as she picked a chair to flop into, "I was detained in town by a guy trying to flirt with me. So I was late getting away. Just as I left him to head for the alley the three of them emerged and moved in the direction of these guys. So I apparated to Remi and we got them away."

"Who was it?" he asked.

"Rodolphus, Rabastian and Lucius." she replied.

"Sirius what's the scoop?" he turned to the dog animagus.

"She taught him lots of stuff, all of it light." he answered.

"Remus?" Moody faced the werewolf last.

"No dark aura." he replied.

"Welcome to the light." Moody turned to the stunned woman holding tightly onto Harry who was holding just as tightly onto her.

"Thanks." she replied, "What happens now?"

"We'll be heading back to England where you'll have to go to trial for what you have done wrong." he said, "But with saving Harry you shouldn't get more than probation."

"The Dark Lord will have me killed." she stated, "He has spies everywhere including the Wizengamot."

"Can you give me names?" he asked.

"Yes but its ten year old information I don't know if it's still true." she shrugged.

"It will give us a place to start investigating." Tonks replied. Four hours later Harry was asleep on the couch while the adults were still grilling Bellatrix.

"I really thought he'd have more control of the world by now." she sat back as they told her of the political setting in England.

"When he attacked Harry something happened." Sirius responded.

"It hurt him." Bellatrix agreed, "He was screaming in pain and then collapsed."

"What happened in the room?" Moody said.

Bellatrix tried to remember everything and even drew out what she thought the runes and patterns were. She explained the golden light going from Harry to Voldemort, "I took Harry into the next room to kill him and… I couldn't do it. Instead we ran."

"Voldemort was made near powerless for two years." Moody said, "Since then he has not fully regained his ability as far as we can tell. Harry slowed him down long enough for us to have a fighting chance."

"What have you told Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Everything except the details of the ritual chamber." she answered, "For his eighth birthday he refused any presents and just wanted answers to his questions. So that's what I gave him. I told him about the prophecy and everything I knew that concerned him."

"How old was he when you started the writing the letters to get me free?" Sirius asked.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"He told me all about them my first day." Sirius grinned, "He showed me his album."

"I never thought to look for an animagus." she shook her head, "He was three when I started. I didn't think of it before then sorry. I never thought I could return to England. You were our back up plan to take care of him during his school years."

"What prophecy?" Moody interrupted going back to the previous part of the conversation.

"The one that said Harry would defeat the Dark Lord." she said, "I never heard it word for word but it's the reason they were attacked."

"I never heard about a prophecy." Sirius stated, "You guys?"

"No." Remus and Tonks replied.

"I heard there was one but I don't know what it said." Moody acknowledged, "I didn't hear about it until Albus gave me this job to do."

The flash arrival of Fawkes interrupted them. He dropped a letter and settled on the arm of the couch next to Harry. Moody picked it up, huffed and then handed it to Tonks.

"Great timing Albus." Tonks said sarcastically, "Our spy said Voldemort is sending a team after Bellatrix. We need to get her and Harry to safety if we know where they are."

"With just those three after us I think we would have been ok." Bella stated, "Harry's very advanced."

"We heard you working on fourth year spells." Tonks stared at her aunt.

"I don't want him hurt when he goes to school. He's so Gryffindor it almost makes me want to scream, reminds me of you Sirius." Bella chuckled, "He smart and sly but not particularly ambitious. I think he'll be happier as an Auror than as Minister for Magic. No one will be able to push him around easily."

"One more question." Sirius stated, "What was that spell Harry put over the trunk when he was packing?"

"It's one he made up on his own." Bella chuckled, "He was tired of having to shrink each item down before packing it. He calls it a shrinking window. Everything that passes through the hazy spot shrinks. He tried to teach me but I can't do it."

"What's the incantation?" Sirius asked, "I didn't hear it."

"There isn't one." She shook her head, "He says you just have to want it there. I don't know how he does this stuff. It's not the only one he's made. I've not been able to do any of them."

With that the group went off to bed Sirius picked up Harry and took him to the room meant for him. Moody sent a reply back to Albus via Fawkes and set up several wards and protections around the house. Back with Voldemort Rabastian was sent to inform the Dark Lord that Bellatrix was not in the house. His screams from the curses were heard throughout the house. The next morning they were all set to go to Hogwarts.

"You're sure?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure Harry." Bella nodded her head, "I'll be in hiding with you until my trial. After that we'll just have to see."

"Alright I'll go." Harry agreed.

"Finally." Bella said, "It never took this much to convince you to leave a place before."

"You weren't trying to convince me to let you take me back to England." Harry said, "I don't want the death eaters or dementors to get you."

"Just pick him up and lets go." Moody grumbled, "He's just a little kid, it can't be that hard."

"Want to bet on that Mad eye?" Bella asked, "I think you'll be surprised."

"Surprise me later we need to get out of here before they find us and send an army." Moody growled.

"I said I'll go so let's go." Harry pointed out, "You're the one stalling now."

Tonks snickered holding onto the portkey. Sirius and Remus were both covering their mouths hoping to hide their grins. Bella grabbed the rope next to Harry and put her hand on his shoulder. On his other side Sirius did the same. Moody and Remus grabbed on the other side of Tonks and they disappeared. The Canadian aurors breathed a sigh of relief as the group disappeared. They were extremely glad to have that group gone. Maybe that dark lord would stay out of their country now. The group landed with a thump in the Headmasters office at Hogwarts.

"Alistor?" Albus called from his desk.

"Albus." he looked at the people in the room and sighed, "We have a few guests coming if you wouldn't mind emptying your office."

Harry and Belletrix where both disillusioned. Moody had insisted on it since they hadn't notified Albus ahead of time. It was a good thing because Cornelius Fudge along with several aurors were in the office.

"Mr. Black we were just discussing your whereabouts." Cornelius stated.

"Why?" he asked bluntly without any friendliness to his tone.

"I am asking for another trial." Cornelius stated, "We don't believe you really had veritiserum. I and several others believe you managed to worm your way out somehow."

"I believe being retried for the same crime falls under the same section of the law that says I must be given a trial." Sirius stated, "So unless you have new evidence to turn over my release I do believe you can't touch me."

"We have new evidence. We have a letter written by a Mrs. Pettigrew that claims you are an illegal animagus." he sneered.

"Actually he's not." Mad Eye cut in, "He registered through me several months ago. I've just been out of town and not had time to fill out the paperwork. I believe I have six months from proof of animagus status to submit the paperwork. I still have two months left."

"Minister they are correct." Kingsley Shacklebolt claimed, "You have nothing to bring him in on."

"I also told you that the healer that tested him verified in court that he was under the influence of a truth potion." Albus added with a frown at the man, "Unless that healer now wants to say he lied in court we are finished. Now I'll have to ask you to show yourselves out as Alistor has pointed out I have more guests on the way."

"This isn't over Black." Fudge growled, "I won't let you get away with this."

"What do you think I'm getting away with?" Sirius asked, "I've already proven that I wasn't the secret keeper."

Fudge didn't answer instead he stomped out of the office. Mad Eye moved to the window and waited until he saw the group leave the castle grounds and apparate away.

"When are they getting here?" Albus asked.

"They're with us just disillusioned." Sirius answered, "We didn't know if you'd have anyone in your office. Bella has given evidence on mass corruption within the Ministry, including the Wizengamot."

Moody took the spell off the two extra people in the group and added, "Unfortunately they won't believe her so we have to do the investigations and prove it before we can let it be known that we have found them. Who has Fudge in their pocket?"

"Lucius Malfoy." Albus muttered, "He's trying to get custody of Harry as closest magical relative. Fudge won't believe he's a death eater. We'd have to catch him in robes during an attack and have a healer on standby to check for imperious curse. Even then I'm not sure Fudge would believe it."

"Can't you just testify against him?" Harry asked his aunt, "I mean you know he is a death eater. You know he would hurt me if he could."

"They won't believe me Harry. I was an outspoken supporter of the Dark Lord." she sighed.

"That is true I am sorry to say." Albus looked over the notes that they had taken during the interrogation the night before. He asked several questions about things before he asked, " Bellatrix would you mind letting me see the memory of the Ritual Chamber?"

"I don't mind but please just call me Bella." she shuddered, "Bellatrix was the death eater. Bella is the woman who saved and raised Harry."

"Very well Bella. Do you know how to use a pensieve?" he asked. She pulled the memory out and added it to the bowl.

"Can I see it?" Harry asked.

"No." Bella said before anyone else could, "You may see it when you're older."

When they emerged a shaken Dumbledore asked, "Do you know if he had tried that ritual before?"

"I don't know." she admitted, "I know it was dark just from the feel of the room but I didn't know what it was."

"That is one of the darkest spells wizards have ever made." Sirius said shakily, "Aurors don't even lean about those in training. I had to read about them once for punishment when I was placed in Gryffindor."

"Why were you punished for going to Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"All my family before me were placed in Slytherin." Sirius shrugged, "My Mother guessed that I had insisted on going into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, which was right, so I was punished for trying to bring shame to the family."

"She made you read about dark magic?" Harry was perplexed.

"Gryffindors are notorious for being light wizards while Slytherins are for being dark." Harry nodded he knew this but he was still confused by Sirius, "Well my mother decided I would be forced to learn all the dark magic and that it would change me. I was just as stubborn and decided I would defy her at every turn. I know a lot of dark magic but I refuse to use any of it."

"So why is one spell dark and another not?" he asked trying to understand everything.

"Dark magic generally revolves around death or harmful intent." Sirius replied, "It can't be used for anything good. For instance there is a dark cutting curse that is similar to our normal one. The difference is that it inflicts ten times the amount of pain with the cut. The intent is to hurt them badly."

"What happens if you can find a good use for a dark curse?" Harry asked, "Do they reclassify it as a normal spell?"

"I don't know." Sirius replied, "Albus do you?"

"It would be moved to a controlled spell." he answered, "That means only people with the proper authority could use it."

"That way it could be used for the good purpose but others would still be arrested for abusing it." Harry nodded, "That makes sense."

"All finished with the questions?" Albus asked and Harry nodded, "Ok, now where do we hide you?"

"Are we all three hiding together?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Albus smiled congenially, "It will be easiest that way. What about your mother's house Sirius?"

"No, I will not live there." Sirius shuddered, "You may use it for the Order if you want but I'm not living there."

"I agree." Bella added with a shake of her head, "Harry will not be raised in that house. It's too bad Potter Hall was lost."

"I know, James was the last secret keeper and he only told his parents and Lily." Sirius shook his head, "Harry was only a baby the last time they went. They would have hid there but James couldn't go into the house."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"To many memories." Sirius said, "He hadn't been able to face his parents deaths yet. They died just after your first birthday."

"Wouldn't they have had to tell me the secret even if I didn't understand?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know about that." Albus said, "I could ask Filius he's the expert but he won't be back for a few more weeks."

"Does anyone know the general location and what it looks like?" Harry kept pushing.

"I do." Sirius said, "I guess we can just go by the area and see if you can see it. If you can maybe you can find the address written down inside somewhere."

It was a very unhappy Bella that was left behind while Harry and Sirius went to fin Potter Hall. Even as they were leaving she was still giving the two of them instructions.

"Don't use Harry's name, call him Mike." she said, "Don't talk to strangers or anyone you even think you know. If death eaters attack use the emergency portkey Albus made for you. Be quick and don't linger. Get back here just as soon as you can."

"Yes mum." Sirius groaned as they finally got away, "Does she think we're children?"

"I am a child." Harry laughed, "And you certainly don't act much older than I do."

"Shut it Prongslett." Sirius ruffled his hair, "Hold on I'm going to apparate us now."

Once they landed and recovered Harry started looking around. They were at the edge of a forest with a large open field just outside. The field was obviously cultivated as it had rows of plants growing in it. Harry wasn't sure what they were growing but at least it was tall enough to hide them.

"Did you smuggle the brooms out?" he asked.

"Yes but we'll have to be disillusioned if we use them right now. Once we move off to the north about a mile we'll be well away from the muggles." Sirius answered.

"Let's just walk then." Harry said, "I hate that charm. I feel like someone has dropped an egg on my head."


	4. Chapter 4

They walked through the forest and Sirius began to relate some stories of James to Harry. He had told one particularly funny story and they had to stop walking because they were laughing so hard. Finally Sirius decided they were far enough away and late enough in the afternoon to risk flying. He pulled out the two brooms and enlarged them. Handing one to Harry he started to go over the instructions for flying. Harry didn't hear a word of it though because he was already fifty feet in the air.

"Wait up." Sirius yelled mounting his broom and pushing off. He quickly caught up to the boy, "I guess you don't need instructions on how to fly?"

"No we had flying lessons last year at school." Harry responded, "The teacher kept calling me a natural but never would explain what she meant by that. Ok so the place we're looking for is a three story house right?"

"Not just a house but an Estate." Sirius said, "Larger than the normal home."

"Like that one?" Harry asked pointing at a large manor.

"Yes very similar." Sirius said, "I think we need to go more north. I seem to remember he said they had closer neighbors to the south of the house."

They flew for a little while longer before Harry spotted another house, "How about that one?"

"I don't see anything so that must be it." Sirius said, "Since you can't tell me the address we'll try and see if you can take me in. If I can't make it past the boundary come back to me and I'll land as close as I can and wait for you there."

Harry reached out for Sirius and he pulled him through the barrier. Once through Sirius could see the house. He grinned and let go and they descended towards the house. They landed on the Quidditch pitch and Sirius shrunk the brooms and put them back in his pocket. Walking towards the house Sirius started pointing out places where something fun had happened.

"See that tree there, your Dad crashed into it his first time on a broom." Sirius grinned, "And that fountain there is where your Dad proposed to your Mum. He fell into the water when she said yes. Later I'll show you the black marks on the roof where I nearly crashed the first time I used the flying charm on my motorcycle."

They reached the back door and opened it. Once inside Harry took a deep breath, "Smells like chocolate chip cookies."

"Bitty are you making biscuits?" Sirius called out.

"Yes sir mister Sirius." the female elf answered, "I knows you have a nose for them. Master James always loved them so I is hoping Master Harry will too."

"Are the others still here?" he asked.

"Only one other is left." Bitty answered sadly, "Most of them died shortly after Master James and Mistress Lily. But I knows Master Harry going to need us some day so I held on and so did Dab."

"I'm glad you're still here." Sirius said and hugged the elf, "I can't think of anyone to take better care of Harry than you two."

"Thanks you mister Sirius." Bitty said pulling out a fresh batch of biscuits, "We be ready for Master Harry and his Aunt Bella along with you and mister Remus."

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, "Now all I need to know is the address so I can share the secret."

"It's in the Marauder Vault in Master James' room." Bitty said, "Dab will meet you by the stairs and show young Master the way."

"Thanks Bitty." Harry called as Sirius and he each took a biscuit on their way past.

They walked out of the kitchen and down a hallway that ended in the entrance hall for the house. A grand front door and the window above it let natural light into the entry. The room was fairly large and had several doors as well as halls leading from it. The ceiling was far above them with a huge chandelier hanging down. Harry was sure when it was lit it would be beautiful but he didn't think anything could look as beautiful and it did right then. The light from the window was hitting the crystals and throwing multi colored rainbows all over the walls and gleaming floors. Opposite the front doors was a grand staircase that led up to the next floor. At the foot of the stairs was another elf waiting patiently.

"You must be Dab." Harry smiled, "Can you show us the way to the Marauder Vault?"

"This way Master Harry." the elf nodded, "It is on the third floor. Mister Sirius it is good to see you again."

"Likewise Dab." Sirius replied, "I missing being here."

"Well you be home now sir." Dab said as they headed up the stairs.

They kept up the conversation until they reached the third floor room that used to belong to James Potter. Sirius opened the door but didn't move. Harry looked up at him to find him misty eyed. He didn't say anything for several minutes as Sirius stood there but he finally decided to get him moving.

"Sirius are we going in?" Harry asked.

"What?" Sirius looked down at the boy and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yes we're going in."

Sirius took a deep breath but still didn't seem able to move. Harry squeezed past him and stepped into the room hoping it would break Sirius out of what ever had a hold on him. He looked in wonder around the room. It had Gryffindor pennants and banners on the walls. Pictures in frames around on the furniture. The bed was covered in red and gold that matched the curtains. The floor was wood with a few red and gold rugs spread around it. Finally Sirius was able to move and followed Harry into the room.

"Where's the vault?" Harry asked hoping to keep him moving and out of the sad thoughts.

"Over here in the closet." Sirius replied crossing the room and pulling open a door. Harry followed him, "Now you get initiated into the Marauders. Tap your wand here and say I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Why would I want to be up to no good?" Harry asked.

"It means you're ready to pull a prank." Sirius said, "Go on now."

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry repeated and tapped the spot.

A door swung open and revealed a very full compartment, "I should have known it would be too full to find right away. Oh well let's just levitate this to the bed and have a look see."

"What is all that?" Harry was filled with wonder at the stacks of paper and bags of stuff that made its way out of the small vault.

"This is our notes, some joke products and let's see… Oh some of Moony's chocolate." Sirius pulled out a chocolate frog, opened it and popped it into his mouth then he handed one to Harry, "They only have one good jump in them, but they taste great."

"Why are we eating Moony's chocolate?" Harry had more questions as he ate the frog.

"Moony is nice and shares." Sirius answered, "Sometimes he doesn't know how nice he is."

"In other words you just take his chocolate and then say thank you." Harry laughed.

"Something like that." Sirius grinned, "Now we need to look through this stuff to find the address."

They sorted through the pile for nearly half an hour before Harry held it up, "Here we are. Potter Hall rests at 1615 Potter Hill Road, Skye, Scotland."

"That's the place." Sirius said.

"So when I thought I saw water when we were flying I probably did." Harry commented, "And I guess I should be a fan of the Pride of Portree since they are locals."

"That was your Dad's favorite team." Sirius nodded, "I personally like the Harpies best."

"I bet that's because they are all girls." Harry shuddered.

"They are?" Sirius faked surprise, "I just think they're spectacular."

"Whatever you say Paddy." Harry turned away from his grinning Godfather.

"You'll be changing teams soon enough." Sirius patted him on the back, "But for now we need to get back before Bella loses her patience and hexes us from afar."

"At least we'll be able to come back." Harry shrugged, "Do we need to put this all away?"

"No let's just go get Bella and come back." Sirius stood and stretched, "Dab can we apparate in and out?"

"You can apparate in and out. But Ms. Bella cannot apparate in until she has been approved." Dab commented, "Bring her to Bitty and she'll let you know if she can move about freely or not."

The two left Harry's new home and returned to Hogwarts. They showed Remus, Bella, Mad Eye, Tonks and Albus the address and the coordinates for apparation and then the four who were to live at Potter Hall left. As soon as they were inside Bella and Remus both made suggestions to the house elves.

"Block anyone trying to enter the house in an animagus form." Bella instructed, "Except for Sirius."

"Dark marks are not allowed either." Remus said, "Is the floo connected?"

"No mister Remus." Dab replied, "Master James turned them all off."

"Maybe we should have one just outside the secrecy charm." Harry suggested, "My friend at school said his uncle is an Auror and he has a free standing fireplace just outside his wards so people can floo over without going right into his house."

"Why don't they just apparate?" Sirius asked.

"My friend is too young to apparate." Harry said, "Not everyone is willing to side along their children. Besides this way we won't have to give the coordinates of the house out to everyone. They floo to the address and walk up to the front door but only if they have the address."

"It also gives us a quick way out if we need it." Bella said, "I like the idea."

"Yes Miss." Dab replied, "Please allow me to show you to your rooms."

Dab showed Bella to her room and then proceeded down the hall to show Harry to his. Bella went to follow but Sirius stopped her, "Bell, I know how you were taught to treat elves but in this house they are family."

"Oh, right." she nodded in agreement, "I hadn't even thought of that. Generally its Harry who reminds me I'm not that person anymore when I slip."

"You've been fine so far I just wanted to warn you." Sirius grinned.

"Don't worry, if I'm not perfectly nice Harry will tell me. He's done it before." Bella shook her head, "I remember once after getting angry at one of his teachers he pulled me to the side and said thanks for standing up for me but you're scaring her to death. He understands I still let it get away from me now and then."

"You have surprised me Bell." Sirius hugged her, "Come on I'll take you to Harry's room."

"Is it too difficult for you to call me Bella?" she asked as they left her room.

"No, I'm just trying to find a nickname that fits." Sirius grinned steering her down the hall, "I already tossed out Trixi."

"I'm glad of that." she responded before answering Harry's call to come look at his room, "Wow this is nice, who did the decorating?"

"I don't know but it's perfect." Harry called from beside his bed where he was looking out the window, "Look I've got a poster for Pride of Portree. And there are snitches, quaffles and bludgers flying around the walls. I can see the pitch from my window and Dab said there are a few old brooms in the shed that should still be able to fly."

"Brilliant." she deadpanned, "Now you're getting help to kill yourself on a broom."

"No Miss we take broom safety very seriously." Dab said pointing out the window, "New rules since Master James ran into that tree. He must pass our test before he can ever get on one and an adult or either Bitty or I have to be with young Master when he flies. Once he becomes school aged and if he is proficient the rules will change to be less restrictive."

"Fine." Bella said, "I guess I can live with that. Do we have any other rules we should know about?"

"No you passed the test so everything else is fine." Dab stated.

"What test?" she asked.

"They test to see your intentions on Potters." Sirius shrugged, "If you weren't trying to protect him you wouldn't have gotten past the kitchen."

"Well that's good to know." she replied.

"No one can get into the house that has any ill intentions towards any Potter." Sirius said, "His Great Grandfather set that up when Grindlewald was coming into power."

The next morning they woke to a different world within the house. Without realizing it Christmas was upon them and the elves had decorated the entire house. Bella and Sirius were in a panic now with just a little over a week until the holiday.

"I don't have any presents for him." Bella hissed, "I need to get him some things."

"You can't go to the Alley." Sirius replied, "Just tell me what you want to get him."

"I don't know what to get him." she whined, "I need to shop."

"Aunt Bella." Harry yawned as he entered the room, "I need no other present than your presence in my life. The fact that we are all together as a family, safe from harm and in England is nothing short of a Christmas miracle anyway. I never dreamed I'd be able to have you and Sirius in my life at the same time."

"I still want to get you some presents." Bella pouted.

"How about I make a list and you can pick something off of it." Harry grinned, "Then Sirius can pick it up for you. It's almost like shopping."

"It's the best option you're going to get." Sirius grinned, "Madeye isn't letting you out of the house. It is the safest thing for you and for Harry."

"I know." she sighed, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

After breakfast Harry sat down and made a list of things he'd like to have. Number one on the list was a broom which made Bella cringe and Sirius grin madly. They each picked out several things along with Remus before they smuggled the list out to Albus. Bella was still grumbling about the unfairness of it all as Sirius left to go shopping.

The week passed quickly and Christmas morning Sirius decided to wake Harry early. He snuck into his room only to find it empty. For a moment he was in panic before he remembered the house elves and all the protections. Quietly he called for Dab who told him where to find Harry. Sirius padded quietly down the stairs and found the boy asleep on the floor by the tree. Dab had covered him with a blanket. Sirius just sat in a chair and watched the boy sleep. The scene was more special than anything he ever thought he would see. Several times he caught himself on the brink of tears without really understanding why. A few hours later Bella and Remus came running into the room and found the two asleep in the room.

"Sirius." Remus shook him, "What are you doing down here?"

"Hmmm?" Sirius woke slowly, "Oh I was going to wake Harry real early and then come wake you two up. But he wasn't in his room. Dab told me he was down here so I was going to do the same but I just didn't have the heart to wake him."

"I thought you two had started without us." Bella snickered, "I was ready to skin you alive."

Sirius just shrugged and turned as Harry woke up abruptly, "Is it time to open presents?"

Nearly six months later Bella had her day in court. The Aurors had been able to clean up the Ministry with Bella's help. At her trial the opposition listed every crime they thought she had done. She had wondered where they had gotten some of the information until she caught a slip on their part.

"Ask them to bare their arms." Bella whispered to her solicitor, "They would only know that if they were there."

When it was time for the defense to call witnesses he deviated from their original plan, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizengamot. It occurs to me that we have left something out of today's trial. You have asked my client to bare her arms which she did without objection. You have recently been asked to bare your arms as well which again you did without objection. Well at least those of you still here did." he smiled at the group, "However, no one has asked me to bare my arms. I will do so now and I call upon our prosecutors to do the same."

"What?" one of the men stood, "That is preposterous."

"Are you better than the rest of us here?" Bella covered her smile as her solicitor pinned him, "Everyone else has done so why shouldn't you?"

"I do hope your are leading somewhere with this." Amelia Bones was the one to ask.

"Certainly." he replied, "I'll explain as soon as they bare their arms."

"I refuse to be treated as a miscreant." the man who had spoke before started to leave the courtroom.

"Auror Shacklebolt please restrain him." Amelia called, "Sir you have a choice to bare your arms or be arrested for contempt of court and then we will forcefully bare your arms."

He still refused so he was arrested and his arms bared to show the dark mark. The rest of the prosecution team voluntarily bared their arms which were clear.

"Mrs. Lestrange doesn't dispute the charges against her conduct." her solicitor explained gracefully, "She was merely concerned that another participant in that event was going unpunished. She told me that they were not allowed to speak of it after the event the man had to have taken part."

"That will be investigated." Amelia stated, "Now do you have anything relevant to the current case?"

"I do Madam Bones." the man said, "I call Auror Alistor Moody."

The trial continued for several days with witnesses being examined and cross-examined. The deliberation afterwards took even longer. Every day during the trial the paper had been covered with the details of the case. Everyone in the wizarding world was waiting for the verdict. It was without a doubt the highest publicized trial ever seen in the wizarding world. The morning of Harry's tenth birthday Bella was called back into court.

"Before we hand down our verdict I have one question of you." Amelia stated, "Why did you save Harry Potter."

"I don't know if anyone knows this but I had a child around the same time as Lily Potter." Bella was fighting the tears, "I was called away to participate in an event when he was just six months old. I was not allowed to skip this event. Rodolphus was not part of it and he was to stay with Polaris. When I returned two days later I found Rodolphus and his brother asleep in the den with many empty bottles of fire whiskey. I went to check on Polaris and he was dead." she sobbed and held her hands to her heart, "At first this event made me meaner. I wanted everyone to bare the same hurt I had felt. But then the Dark Lord handed me Harry and told me to kill him painfully. I went to do just that but… I found I could not do it."

Amelia turned to her colleagues, "Any descent from our earlier decision?" When no one objected she turned back to Bella, "Bellatrix Lestrange, we of the Wizengamot find you guilt on all counts. For your crimes the sentence would be life in Azkaban." Bella only nodded her acquiescence, "However, when we take into consideration what you have been doing for the last nine years we find ourselves unwilling to give you this sentence. You have also provided invaluable information to our Aurors which enabled them to cut corruption from our midst. If you were to be sent to Azkaban now it is doubtful you would live more than a week. We are also unwilling to let you go with no punishment. Our decision is this. Nine years house arrest and community service followed by six years probation. We believe the nine years of house arrest and community service have been served. Report to the Aurors to find your probation officer. And please tell Mr. Potter thank you for his kind letter and I will be returning the pictures to him shortly."

Bella was stunned. Harry had written a letter. He had written a letter to Amelia Bones. He had included pictures. As her solicitor led her out of the room she couldn't help but wonder which pictures he had sent.


	5. Chapter 5

"What did you do?" she asked Harry when she returned to Potter Hall.

"I just wrote her a letter telling her what I wanted her to know." Harry replied, "I sent a few pictures that showed how happy we've been. I guess you weren't set to Azkaban so what was your sentence?"

"Nine years house arrest, time served." she replied, "Then six years probation."

"What does time served mean?" he inquired.

"I have already done it." she smiled, "The time we were on the run from the Dark Lord is the time I would have spent under house arrest."

"So your free?" He asked excitedly.

"Just have probation now." she replied, "I have to account for my whereabouts and actions for the next six years. They've made Kingsley Shacklebolt my probation officer."

"Fantastic!" Harry yelled jumping up and down and trying to hug Bella.

"I agree." Sirius grinned, "I think this calls for a celebration. How about we go buy her a present in Diagon Alley?"

"Yes." Harry readily agreed.

"I don't know." Bella said, "Just because I'm free doesn't mean there aren't people still out to get me."

"I'll protect you Aunty." Harry proclaimed.

"How very noble of you Harry." she laughed, "I think you just want to use magic."

"There is that bonus." Harry agreed laughing.

"Sly dog." Sirius grinned.

"Nope that's your job." Remus laughed.

"Please." Harry said hopefully once they had reached Diagon Alley, "It would be a great thank you gift for sending the letter."

"No way am I buying you a Nymbus anything." Bella said, "I won't thank you buy giving you something to kill yourself with. I have something much better in mind."

"Does it have anything to do with flying?" Harry asked.

"In a roundabout way it does." she replied.

"But first we need to get your present." Harry drug her into a jewelry store.

They looked at rings, necklaces, pins and even fancy hair accessories. They pushed bits of gold and precious stones at her until she was ready to scream.

"Stop." she called, "Just stop. I'll find something just quit pushing. Part of this present is getting to shop for it."

"Nooooo." Sirius wailed, "You're the no nonsense type. You just find something and off we go to shop at stores that are more fun."

"This is fun." Bella grinned wickedly.

"Give it up Sirius." Harry said, "You do not rush shopping with a girl. Just grin and bear it. Jewelry was your idea and it was brilliant. I told you we should have told her to go shopping and let us know how much it cost us when she was done. But no. We had to make a family trip out of it."

"You mini-monstrosity." Sirius grabbed him and messed up his hair, "You can't blame this all on me. I do recall one little bit of begging for us all to go."

"I don't recall anything." Harry stated laughing as Sirius moved to tickle him.

Even the shop keeper was chuckling at the byplay between the two of them. He thought to himself how stupid the ministry was to believe Sirius could have ever hurt the boy or his parents. However the change he was seeing in Bellatrix Lestrange was absolutely amazing. Like Sirius the man had been in school with her and knew how horrible she had been. This laughing girl in muggle clothing simply had to be a completely new person. When the trio had first entered the store he had not recognized her at all. She had been drug into the store by the boy as she was protesting that it was too expensive. He had ignored her and pulled her right over to a display of rings that he thought she would like. As he pulled her he was saying how she would like the things on display and even called her Aunty. The boy had hugged her and told her to find something. She had hugged him back and then turned to the shop keeper and greeted him by name. When he had welcomed her into his store by using her name she had told him just to call her Bella.

"Finally." Sirius groaned as Bella finally picked out a necklace and matching earrings, "I thought this was going to take all day. We only have four hours left to get the rest of our shopping done."

"Hush Sirius." Harry admonished him, "She doesn't get to shop that often."

"All done." she called, "Now for your birthday present."

"Which shop?" Harry asked, "Quidditch?"

"No." she smiled, "I'll tell you when we get there."

The group walked farther down the street and stopped outside Eyelops Owl Emporium, "You're buying me an owl?"

"Yes." she said, "You get to pick it out."

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed, "Excellent."

Before the group could enter the store a series of pops filled the alley. Black robed individuals appeared all along the road and people began screaming and running. The three by the owls didn't have time to move before spells were being hurled at them. All three pulled their wands and began to defend themselves. Harry was hidden behind Sirius and Bella as soon as the spells started but it didn't stop him from putting up shields for them. Aurors arrived quickly and some of the Death Eaters broke off to engage them from the back of the group. The majority were still shooting spells at the trio. Twenty minutes later found several Aurors and Death eaters on the ground. A new pop right in front of them caught their attention when Voldemort himself appeared.

"Bellatrix I am so disappointed in you." he said. His once dark hair was streaked with gray and his face was covered in wrinkles, "You see what the boy cost me. Hand him over and all will be forgiven. Hand him over and I will give you your heart's desire, I will mark you."

"No." she stated firmly.

"I don't think you know her heart's desire anymore Moldy." Sirius sneered, "Tattoos are out of fashion now."

"Silence." Voldemort screamed. He then calmed seeing Harry peeking out from behind the two, "Never mind I'll silence you myself. Avada Kadriva."

The green light sped across the space at Sirius and he thought he was dead. It took a second to realize it wasn't aimed at him. By the time it registered there was already something in the way.

_*****A few minutes previous *****_

Albus Dumbledore arrived at Diagon Alley amongst the chaos of battle. He started throwing curses and shields as he quickly analyzed the battle. He saw it centered on a group by Eyelops and then he realized who the group was. He immediately began to make his way to Harry and his two guardians. Before he could reach them Voldemort himself arrived and after a few seconds sent a killing curse at Harry.

"Move Harry." he yelled.

But it was for nothing as the boy swished his wand and a mirror appeared in the path of the curse. The curse struck the mirror and returned to its sender. Voldemort fell to the ground. Albus made his way to the body not taking his eyes off of it lest he miss something happening. He was met by Madeye Moody and Tonks. All three had their wands pointing at the mad man responsible for so many deaths. Moody handed his wand to Tonks and felt for a heartbeat. He stood up grinning and took his wand back from Tonks.

"Looks like he was never able to complete that particular ritual." the Auror said.

"Best news I've heard all day." Tonks sighed.

"Me too." Bella said from her spot not far from the dead body, "Who put up the mirror? I would never have thought to do that."

"I believe that was Harry's doing." Albus turned and looked over his glasses at the boy peeking out from behind Sirius, "Am I right about that?"

"Yes sir." Harry replied, "Sorry I did magic outside of school. I decided it was life or death so it would be ok."

"It's more than ok." Bella grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"Did we get them all?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." Kingsley added as he walked up, "Witnesses say thirty seven popped into the alley before Voldemort arrived. We have thirty eight captured or killed."

"Keep a close eye on this body." Albus instructed, "I don't want it out of anyone's sight for at least twenty four hours. Then I want it shoved through the veil."

"Yes sir." Kingsley replied then grabbed the body of Voldemort by the collar and apparated away.

"Where are the healers?" Albus asked, "I want these three checked over."

"They've not arrived yet." Tonks supplied, "They'll be arriving momentarily."

"Well be inside the shop picking out an owl." Harry told them, "It's my birthday present."

He turned and grabbed the hands of Bella and Sirius and walked into the shop. In the end he was given a snowy owl with all the necessary accessories by the shop keeper. Bella was a bit aggravated because she still needed to buy him something for his birthday. The healers found them in the store and proclaimed them unharmed. Aurors told them they were free to leave. Remus had arrived and gave all three of them hugs.

"When I heard what was happening I about had a heart attack." the man claimed, "I'm so glad you're all right."

"We're fine but I think I've had enough shopping for one day." Harry declared.

"Good." Remus said, "But we have a slight problem. The press is outside and they all want pictures of Harry."

"How many?" Harry asked concerned.

"One is too many." Bella told him, "They'll start asking you all sorts of questions."

"About how I stopped him?" Harry asked.

"And about us." Sirius groaned, "It's going to be impossible to get him out of here."

"Use my floo." the shop keeper offered, "Part of you take him away then the rest can make a statement."

"Better than a portkey." Harry agreed.

Albus entered the shop, "We need to get Harry out of here."

"This nice man said we could use his floo." Harry stated.

"Thank you." Albus shook the shop keepers hand then turned to the group, "Remus take him to Hogwarts and then you can go home. You two come with me we'll make a statement."

"But…" Bella started and pointed at Harry.

"No I think it best if you are there." Albus stated.

As soon as Harry was gone the three left the shop to the chaos of the media. The noise level increased to deafening levels when they reached the group. Albus raised his hand and although it took several minutes the group quieted. Moody and Kingsley joined the group outside the emporium. Albus indicated for Moody to start.

"We have thirty eight offenders either caught or killed in today's fight. The ministry has two deaths and ten injuries to Aurors." Moody gave his information in his normal growl, "Three bystanders were killed and thirty sustained injuries. Of those thirty twenty five were treated on the scene and released. Five were transported to St. Mungo's. Names are not being released."

"Who were under the masks?" asked on reporter.

"Names are not being released." Moody said again.

"Was You-Know-Who among those caught?" another asked.

"Names are not being released." he reiterated.

"Is it true Harry Potter was here today? Is he ok?" the first reporter asked.

"He was." a man yelled from the side, "And those two protected him."

"Is this true?" the reporter asked.

"Yes." Albus said, "Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange put themselves between Harry and the threat. He has been taken to Hogwarts for his safety and will be returning home with these two when we are finished here."

"Mrs. Lestrange how do you feel about today's judgement?" another reporter asked.

"I am thrilled." she said, "In fact we came today to celebrate my sentencing and Harry's birthday. Other than this little disturbance it has been quite a good day."

"Did you see Voldemort and do you know why he was here?" a reporter yelled from the back.

"Names are not being released." Moody replied. He was getting really tired of repeating himself.

"Other witnesses are saying he talked to you. What did he say?" another one yelled.

Bella looked at Moody and shrugged. Tonks pushed her way through the crowd and reached them just as the last question was being asked. She whispered in Moody's ear and then stood off to the side. He rolled his eyes and turned to the group.

"Minister Fudge is on the way." he said.

"Nymphadora can you get Amelia here?" Albus asked. She nodded and ran off before Albus turned back to the reporters, "We are going to have a few more people join us if you'll hold anymore questions for now."

Tonks returned with the head of Magical Law Enforcement a good five minutes before Fudge managed to appear. After placing privacy wards around them the group began to discuss what had happened and what they were going to say. The rest of the group was ready to pull their hair out over Fudge's disagreement with them all. He didn't believe they had stopped Voldemort and he didn't believe Bellatrix had changed her ways.

"How you got off I'll never know." He sneered, "I will see you in jail soon enough you won't be able to suppress your evil for long."

"Are you still on Lucius' leash?" she retorted scathingly, "I think you'll find he'll be one of those uncovered today."

"This is an outrage." Fudge hissed, "He is an upstanding citizen."

"Who is lining your pockets." Sirius accused, "I saw you cozied up with him not long ago. I even saw him pass you a bag."

"A birthday present amongst friends is fine." Fudge replied huffily.

"True but your birthday isn't until September." Amelia replied, "When did you see this?"

"Last week in the Leaky Cauldron." Sirius said, "I was leaving that party for Ted's birthday. We were in private room three and he was just down the hall outside seven."

"That was nothing." Fudge insisted.

"We'll be investigating that." Amelia said, "Most specifically if he is uncovered as a death eater. Auror Tonks please inform Gringotts that Minister Fudge's accounts are frozen until the pending investigation is concluded."

"Yes Ma'am." Tonks scurried off.

"Auror Shacklebolt please escort Minister Fudge to his home where he is to be confined until such time as the investigation is completed." she continued to instruct. Once they were gone she turned to Albus, "What are we going to say about him leaving?"

"He has a personal matter that came up." Albus offered.

"Ok, now was that really You-Know-Who?" she asked.

The next morning at breakfast the news of Voldemort's demise was all over the papers. As well as the description of just how he was killed and who helped him do it. No one was scared to say his name anymore. Harry read the articles and sighed every time his name was mentioned. One of the articles was about him being raised by Bella. Someone had given the media a copy of Harry's letter to Amelia as well as the pictures. When she read the letter Bella burst into tears.

The letter read:

_Ms. Bones_

_I am Harry Potter and I have something to say in the defense of Aunt Bella. Sirius says I'm not allowed to come to court because I'm only ten. _

_I understand you know her as Bellatrix Lestrange but I know her as my beloved Aunt. I know she hasn't always been a good person but she is the best to me. She saved my life and I will always be grateful for that. She also wrote all those letters to get Sirius free. She knew that the rat was the real culprit all along._

_She has always told me how brave and wonderful my parents and their friends were. I can't imagine my life without her in it. I won't ever have my parents back but I have the next best thing in Aunty Bella, Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus. Please take into consideration that she has done without a lot in order to keep me safe. She herself has had a very difficult time in life which was at its worse just before she saved me._

_For a woman who was suppose to be such a pureblood fanatic I think it's remarkable what she has done. We have lived as muggles and not used any magic several times. She taught me many things including be polite to everyone regardless of their standing in life and friends are important. She even taught me that all humans are equal whether they have magic or not. She always said love is the most powerful force on earth. She has loved me and raised me the best she knows how. _

_I know she was bad before and I know she needs to pay the consequences for her actions, she taught me that. I only ask that you take into consideration what she has done for me. I can't thank you enough for giving her the chance to at least defend herself and her actions. I know it's a basic right but with Sirius' case as my background in the wizarding justice system I know that basic rights don't always get done. _

_Thank you for all you have done. I almost forgot, I am including some of my favorite pictures of the two of us. Please send them back as we don't have copies._

_Sincerely _

_Harry James Potter_

"Don't cry Aunty." Harry hugged her.

"I'm not crying." she claimed as she tried to dry her tears, "My joy is just leaking."

Harry, Sirius and Remus laughed heartily. Little more than a year later Harry found himself hugged half to death before he got on the train to Hogwarts. He walked down the train until he found a compartment with three people in it. Two boys and one girl were sitting on the seats when he knocked on the door.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Not at all." the girl replied, "I'm Hermione Granger by the way and this is Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom."

"I'm Harry Potter." he said, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." the group replied as one.

Harry enjoyed the ride to Hogwarts with his new friends.


End file.
